


Blind date + 'banana, measure, scale'

by whopooh



Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: Blind Date, F/M, Flashfic challenge, Phryne's POV, Prompt Fic, suggestive eating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:14:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27433387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whopooh/pseuds/whopooh
Summary: Phryne is at a restaurant, waiting for a blind date that doesn't show up.
Relationships: Phryne Fisher/Jack Robinson
Comments: 9
Kudos: 56
Collections: Miss Fisher's Flashfic Challenge Heat 1





	Blind date + 'banana, measure, scale'

**Author's Note:**

> For the flashfic challenge! My promts were blind date AU (I added in modern-ish AU) and the words banana, measure, scale.
> 
> No chance for beta reading within two hours, so this time we die like men!

”Miss Fisher. Fancy seeing you here.”

That voice! She’d recognise it anywhere. Dry and sarcastic, but at the same time warm and deep. And, it seemed at the moment, quite amused. 

Phryne turned in her seat so she could get a good look of the man speaking.

“Inspector Robinson! And out on town in the evening no less. What a surprise.”

She hadn’t imagined him going to fancy restaurants like this one, and he conceded her point with a small nod.

“I suppose that may be a surprise for you,” he said, cheeks turning slightly red. Phryne smiled at the sight. 

They had met a few times before, usually because of a dead body. Phryne had stumbled upon a crime scene or two where the inspector was involved, and she had even phoned him in once. Her whole private detective career had actually started that way, and the surprise on his face when she declared her new title had been a sight. He was a capable policeman, and she had found sparring with him to be a great pleasure. Flirting, as well. He was so clearly trying to pretend he wasn’t affected by her, that he had no intention ever to flirt with a woman like her, but she could see the signs. Behind that austere façade was a much more interesting man than he had any wish to display, she was sure of it. 

Tonight would not be the night for her to explore that, alas, as much as she would have liked to. She had a date already – a blind date, no less. Mac had insisted she needed to know how blind dates worked, to broaden her knowledge of all the ways women might meet men, for her work as a detective. She was wearing an elaborate white flower in her hair, that had been part of the setup. She was waiting for a man carrying a rose, but so far none had showed up. Not much of a gentleman if he didn’t show up in time, was it? 

Jack’s eyes were roaming the room; whether he was searching for a reason to stay and talk or to go away she couldn’t tell. 

“Would you… perhaps care to stay for an aperitif?” she asked, uncharacteristically hesitant. “I thought I was waiting for someone, but it seems he might not show up.”

Jack flicked his eyes to her, as if to see whether she really meant it, before nodding again.

“It’d be my pleasure, Miss Fisher.” 

*

They bantered through the aperitif – dear god this man could banter! Phryne felt completely in her element, turning the chat more and more suggestive as the evening went on. And Jack, it seemed, could give just as good as he got. He still blushed, now and again, but he stubbornly refused to lose the challenge, volleying back at her, and it positively thrilled her. 

She suggested they could just as well try a first course too, since the place was so famed for its hors d’oeuvres. She excused herself to go to the bathroom, where she took off her flower and threw it in a bin – if a man would show up now, she had no intention of being spotted and claimed. Jack’s look when she came back to the table told her he realised exactly what she had done. She gave a small shrug and smiled.

“What are your feelings about duck?” she asked as she was seated again. “I hear their confit de canard is to die for.”

“If you say so, I suppose I’ll have to try it,” Jack answered with a smile. “There’s always room for new experiences.”

“Always, Inspector? You do surprise me,” she replied, her gaze moving towards his lips before returning to his eyes, with a quirk of her eyebrow.

She was trying to make him blush, but to her surprise he didn’t. Instead he held her gaze while taking a sip of the wine.

“Always.”

Her smile broadened, her interest truly piqued. Was the inspector responding to her flirtations?

The waiter appeared at their side, refilling their glasses.

“Madame and monsieur, would you care for dessert?” he said. 

“Oh yes,” Phryne said, deciding to test the man before her. “I think a banana surprise, and two spoons, to split between us.”

Jack just looked at her, tilting his head in her direction but not saying anything.

Soon the large creation stood before them – a symphony of ice cream, whipped cream, banana, and chocolate. 

Phryne dug into it, taking care to make a small moan as she let her tongue clean the little spoon. She watched Jack’s reaction, the way he swallowed ostensibly while not managing to take his eyes away from her. 

“Oh,” she said, feigning disappointment, “I thought they would leave the banana intact. I find it very useful as a scale.” She winked as she dipped her spoon back in to repeat her display. 

Jack cleared his throat. Then he seemed to realise he hadn’t even touched the dessert, which he rectified. 

Phryne followed his large, beautiful hand as he carefully filled the spoon with dessert, and then the movement of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed.

“Is that how you decide who measures up?” he asked.

She smiled and shook her head slowly. 

“I find there are many ways to measure up, Inspector,” she replied. “But it’s always good to know what you’re dealing with.”

His eyebrow quirked in question.

“And what are you dealing with?” he said.

“Show me what is in your pocket, Inspector.” She set her mouth in a stubborn expression, a clear challenge.

He was stunned for only a second. Then he gave in, slowly and carefully producing a small, salmon-coloured rose.

She looked at it for a long moment, before searching his eyes queryingly.

“You were my blind date all along?”

“I…” he replied, looking embarrassed. “I just felt ridiculous when I realised. I’m sorry I didn’t come clean immediately. Now I feel even more silly.” 

“You are very silly, Jack,” she agreed, titling her head in a gesture clearly measuring him up. Then she reached her conclusion. “Now, eat up your banana. We have to decide if we’re going to my place or yours.”


End file.
